Bengaluru, NFAPost: Amid the ongoing ED enquiry under FEMA (Foreign Exchange Management Act), edutech major Byju’s Founder and CEO Byju Raveendran said the company brought Rs 28,000 crore FDI to India with due regulatory compliance.
In a letter to his employees, Byju’s Founder and CEO Byju Raveendran said the company didn’t violate any law as it comply with RBI rules.
“All our cross-border transactions have been duly vetted by both its (company’s) professional advisors and counsel and advisors and counsel of the investment funds and other sophisticated counterparties,” said Raveendran, in a letter addressed to the employees,
His statement assumes significance as ED on Saturday conducted searches and seizure action at three premises of the Bengaluru-based firm.
The event at Think & Learn Private Limited owned company which achieved a valuation of $22 billion in a funding round last year in March also brought down its valuation to half.
The tax authorities inspected three premises, including two business units and one residential property in Bengaluru in the case of Byju Raveendaran and his company under the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).
A day after the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) conducted searches and seizure action at the premises of Byju’s, the founder and chief executive officer of the edtech giant Byju Raveendran said that the company has taken all efforts to fully comply with all applicable foreign exchange laws.
Last year, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs asked edtech giant Byju’s to explain why it hasn’t filed its audited financials for the year ending March 2021.
It also sent Byju’s parent company a letter asking them to explain the seventeen-month delay in filing audited accounts. Earlier this year Byju’s reportedly sought more time from lenders to renegotiate an agreement governing a $1.2 billion loan that is in breach of covenants, according to people familiar with the matter.
During the search and seizure action, various incriminating documents and digital data were reportedly seized. FEMA searches also revealed that the company has received foreign direct investment to the tune of Rs 28,000 crore (approx.) during the period from 2011 to 2023.
Byju’s has raised a total funding of $5.8 billion from investors like Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), Sumeru Ventures, Vitruvian Partners, BlackRock, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Sequoia, Silver Lake, Bond Capital, Tencent, General Atlantic and Tiger Global. The firm has over 150 million learners.
Early this year, Byju’s handed the pink slip to 900-1,000 employees in a fresh round of layoffs, according to media reports, although sources in the company said the move was part of the “optimisation” strategy that the edtech giant had announced last year that included sacking 2,500 workers.
